S.H.I.R.A Squad [RPG] [PG/PG-13]

[The Truth]

The glowing being descended from the sky, landing outside the school. It was time to demonstrate its power.

[Magical Girl Mimi]

OOC: Uh-oh.

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd frowned as he thought he heard something.
"Huh?" Lloyd wondered, as he thought he heard something outside of the normal inactive static. However he walked into the elevator anyway, though found that suspicious.

[Flipz]

-==IC: Bailey==-
Bailey almost pressed the elevator button, but stopped herself just in time.  "Never trust technology you haven't rebuilt yourself.  Rule 26," she muttered.  Her Beam Sword made short work of the door, and, sure enough, as she looked up, she saw the bottom of the lift car had been sabotaged.  It would have failed moments after the doors closed, dropping her into the busily whirring machinery below.  Bailey pulled a pair of magnetic pitons from her utility belt, and adhered them to the shaft wall.  She felt the odd compulsion to make a dirty joke about it, but she pushed the thought away; finding Lloyd and Rose was more important.  She began climbing, stopping only to rest a moment atop the elevator car and to anchor herself when the car in the adjacent shaft began moving.  In retrospect, she would regret not paying more attention to those strange compulsions, and why she was getting them...

OOC: the elevator shafts are open to each other, like the turbolift shafts in Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

[The Truth]

The Other entered the building. It rarely allowed itself to feel emotions, but it would enjoy this...

[Flipz]

OOC: I need to ask Blade about something, and then I'll edit in my IC.

[The Truth]

OOC: OK.

[Flipz]

OOC: Well, now I'll just make a new post.  Also, it's up to you to decide if Shiza...well, you'll see.  I'd advise it to be successful, though, so we all have someone on the outside.  

-==IC: Servo==-
Suddenly, Servo felt strange.  "something's happening..."  It felt familiar, somehow; it reminded him of--

"****.  The Cascade!  Get down, and grab my arm!" Servo shouted to Carrie, extending one of his arms.  "Time to activate one of those unauthorized modifications I didn't tell Kronos about," he muttered.

Then something kicked the door in.

-==IC: Zamz Bade & Reclumen==-
Bade was worried.  It was quiet.  Too quiet.  Something was amiss.  He could feel it.  "Thanks for the info, pal, but I gotta split.  Somethin' mad's afoot, and I've gotta stop it."  Before Reclumen could respond, Bade whirled his trenchcoat and disappeared into the roiling mist that had suddenly appeared.  The Imperial agent shivered.  It seemed distingtly dangerous--and, he reminded himself, things that were dangerous in Bade's world could be downright lethal in the real one.  He shivered again--something was seriously wrong here, and for the sake of the Empire he had to make sure it wouldn't--
The mist thinned, and the gaslight at the end of the alley began to fade into something distinctly more futuristic.  Spast!  He moves fast.  He took a step forward, racking his brain for some reason, some excuse to stay close to Bade--the man didn't like to be followed, and in that mist Bade might mistake him for an enemy and open fire--but his mind remained blank for several long moments, as if the mist of Bade's fantasy had entered his own mind.  In desperation he called out, "Hey!  What about my fee--?"

Fee?  What fee?  Had those idiots in management missed his paycheck again?  Or had those poisons the Intelligence agent had insisted on handling "discretely"--which in this case meant off the record, out of sight of other Imperial eyes--turned out to be more expensive to acquire than he thought?  Reclumen growled.  One day he was going to get his transfer, and he would run I&R.  Until then, though, he was stuck here, working a a low-paying (when they even remembered to pay him), pointless, powerless position at a facility the Emperor himself couldn't care less about.
Professor Reclumen turned and re-entered the building, heading for his office.

-==IC: Bade==-
Bade reached base, and by now he knew something was wrong.  "Shiza!" he yelled, remembering her name in an unprecedented moment of clarity and sanity.  His cry echoed throught the halls of the facility.  He saw Adrian in the hallway.  "Where's Shiza?  Something's wrong.  Terribly wrong.  I've got to find her!"  Adrian, startled at Bade's sanity, opened his mouth to reply, but Bade was gone before he could utter a single word.  Bade raced past a door, then skidded to a halt when he felt a distinct--if unusual--concentration of Soul Energy within.  Bade kicked the door down.  He saw Carrie grabbing one of Servo's arms, and Servo's body had started to glow.  Bade felt a pulse of Soul Energy--whatever was about to happen, it was going to go down now.  He grabbed Servo's second arm, and began to drag him and Carrie into the hallway.  That's when he saw Shiza at the end of the hall.  "Shiza!" he called again, and she whipped around to face him.  The panic in Bade's tone and on his face left no room for hesitation; she raced toward him, lunging for Servo's remaining free arm as a powerful wave of energy hit...

[The Truth]

The sign over the entrance read as follows: The Imperial Training Academy (Branch 22D) Welcomes New Students.

Kora looked around nervously. She was much younger than the other students here, having been admitted to the A.N.T Program for gifted children. Unfortunately for her, it seemed she was the only one that had been admitted.

Rose blinked and looked down. Hadn't she been wearing a different outfit a minute ago? No, that couldn't be. Academy rules were very clear about wearing your Imperial Cadet outfit at all times.

Adrian checked his schedule. Great. he thought. I have Professor Reclumen next. He almost killed me for making a simple mistake last time...

Jared was confused. He had been trying to get to class, but had somehow ended up stuck inside someone else's locker. And he was fairly certain there was an angry gerbil in there with him.

"What happened?" Leo asked, confused. Leo...that was his name, wasn't it? It felt...wrong, somehow. His friend Luna seemed just as confused-though since she never talked, he couldn't be sure.

Outside the ruins of the Academy, the Other allowed itself to feel some satisfaction. The foolish humans would never escape the illusion. And if they did...they would have learned to fear the Other.

~~~~~
Shiza blinked and let go of Servo. "That was fun! Let's do it again!"

[Flipz]

-==IC: Bade & Servo==-
"I'll say.  That was one heck of a ride, Bartender," Bade said, back to his usual self.  Servo gently released Carrie, and floated cautiously down the hallway.  "If any of you guys see a glowing white light, float downwards until you can see and re-enter your body."  After a moment, he amended, "And, uh, make sure you do it while you still have one.  The Cascade has an odd resonance frequency that can de-sync you from the average flow of time.  From what I gathered from the aftermath, it affects the mundane realm as well, but normally our senses aren't tuned well enough to notice it."  Servo runs a quick self-diagnostic.  "Well, it's burned-out.  That's to be expected.  But at least the bio-gelpacks are still intact.  We get a few spare etheric energy inducers, a temporal feedback capacitor, and an inverse-resonance dampener, and I'm back in business."
"Just one problem, Bartender."
"What's that?"
"There's nobody else here!"

OOC: Bailey &c coming shortly.

-==IC: Bailey==-
Bailey pulled herself out of the elevator shaft, ducked into a roll and pulled out her stun baton.  Predictably, the runner burst from the stairway door, did a double-take at Bailey's unexpected presence, and tried to run back the way he came.  Bailey kicked the door, sending the boy sprawling, then clubbed him over the head with the stun baton for good measure.  She pulled out a comlink--one of the few mobile units in the school that would work through the jamming field, and one of the few on the planet that wasn't monitored.  "Bailey to command--I've got him."
"Good work," came the voice over the comlink.  "Bring him in for punishment.  Unharmed.  I'll not have you ruining my men's fun, it's one of the few perks of this forsaken place.  Kronos out."
Bailey sighed.  The boy began to stir, and she bound his wrists with stun cord--binder cuffs were too expensive for the Empire to send out here.  "Well, kid, you've got guts, I'll give you that.  And, because of that, I won't be punishing you."  A glimmer of hope sparked in the would-be rebel's eyes.  Bailey glowed inside.  She always relished this moment, extinguishing that final spark.  "I'm taking you to Bartok."
The boy's eye's widened, and he let out a blood-curtling shriek--for about half a second, which is the amount of time it took for Bailey's stun baton to reach his head.  The boy went limp, and Bailey threw him over her shoulder.  She noticed his wrist hanging at an unnatural angle, probably from when he hit the floor--that meant another hour of paperwork for Dr. Kronos.  She sighed again.  At this rate, she'd barely have time to lay traps for unwary night-runners before she had to get up for the evening's surveilance training.  Still, time after-hours with Dr. Kronos meant time with his hot son...and that wouldn't be unpleasant at all.  She considered breaking something else, but then she remembered Dr. Kronos' warning.  She sighed for a third time.  The things she did for duty...

Bailey made sure to take the most-trafficked route to the detention center, so that everyone would see what happened to those who disobeyed the Empire--or simply got in her way.  She glared at Rose as she passed, silently telling her, this is you if you get in my way.  She strutted to the detention center, where she dumped the boy unceremoniously on the floor.  Bartok glanced at the obviously broken wrist, then at Bailey.  "Oops," she said nonchalantly, without the slightest trace of remorse.  She spun on her heel and waltzed off to her next scheduled assignment: enforcing order in Professor Reclumen's Chemistry class.  Which, conveniently enough, was right nearby.  She checked her chronometer.  There were still three minutes 'till start of next period.  Plenty of time to bust another perp.  A wicked grin spread across her face, and she set off at a run.

-==IC: Reclumen==-
Professor Reclumen sat in his classroom, alone.  It was always this way, and in a way he enjoyed it, he supposed; no supervision, no rules, and he only had to deal with the ignorant brats a few times each day.  And yet...something nagged at him.  Was something wrong here?  No, he decided, it couldn't be.  That nosy detective hadn't shown up near his housing facility in weeks, and the Directed Study group from the upper university was doing an excellent job of rooting out the many plots hatched by scheming students.  Bailey, in particular, he had heard good things about.  He was pleased she would be monitoring his class this period; it would give him the opportunity to observe her rumored skills for himself.  And Emperor knew he could use the company; most of the students were so dull, especially that fool Adrian.  Does he not realize he nearly killed himself yesterday?  Self-absorbed fool.  Were it not for Kronos' son and his quick thinking, that poison would have gone airborne.  H***, it could have killed us all.  I need better company than that.

And that was his problem, he realized.  As much and he valued his solitude, he needed a colleague.  An equal.  One with more brain cells than the average amoeba.  Yes, this Bailey character would likely be a fascinating study, but doubtless she lacked the intellectual depth he sought--few at her age did.  Besides, how likely is it that I'll meet her again once she finishes her studies?  Reclumen made a mental note to speak to the rest of the faculty and staff--surely there would be someone here who could match his level of intelligence.  He would just have to seek them out.  And for the first time in a long while, the students that began to file into his classroom did not irritate him in the least.  Well, for a few moments, anyway.  "All right.  Now, I know most of you will doubtless fail to understand even the basic principles of what I am about to teach you, but regardless I will teach it anyway, in the hopes that perhaps one or two of your dull, impenatrable minds will grasp something of what I have to offer.  There will be no need to talk.  Today we will be studying the proper administration of contact poisons.  Go to the chillers in the supply closets and retrieve the simple knockout draughts you tried to create yesterday..."

OOC: Reclumen is a free-use character; as you IC in the classroom or wherever, let him give whatever orders (or interrupt any conversation, or whatever) you need for your character's interactions.  (I.E. you're talking with another student, and Reclumen interrupts you--you can IC as Reclumen, even have him give you a detention slip [or whatever] to take to the office [or whoever].  IC as much as you want; I've got his personality figured out, but only two plot points at all, both of which are pretty much indestructible since they involve interaction with my characters.

[The Truth]

(Shiza): "Cascade? Oh...funny floating pumpkin means Soul Energy!"

OOC: Shiza...just how much do you know about what I'm planning?

IC: "Shiza knows everything."

OOC: I highly doubt that...OK, if you know everything...When (if ever) will Rose die?

IC: "Er...OK, Shiza doesn't know everything. But Shiza knows most of your plans."

[Flipz]

OOC: Edited above post.

[The Truth]

OOC: Did J get warped to school too?
IC: Kora raised her hand. "Professor? This is my first day here...What should I do?"

Adrian groaned. Somehow, the chiller had made his knockout draught turn pink, and it now smelled strangely like bacon. As if it wasn't bad enough before...

Rose looked over at  Kora. For some reason, she looked familiar. She also felt a strange sense of affection for Adrian, even though he had nearly killed them the previous day.
~~~
Bartok smiled. This Bailey was a true Imperial. If only more students were like her. Bartok's smile turned cruel as he began to plan a punishment for the troublemaker Bailey had brought him...

[Flipz]

OOC: Ooh, forgot about her.  Yeah, she is, but I have no idea what would happen, since they're both a little foggy on the memories. *waits for an opportune time*

==Five Minutes Later==
"What did you do?" Bailey asked Adrian, in an unnervingly calm tone.  As she held him to the wall by his throat.
"Eh, Miss Bailey, do mind the vial of pizzazium infinionite there, would you?  I'm afraid it's highly reactive and, well, given Tyrr's proclivity in chemistry..."
"I'm well aware of that, thanks, Professor.  My thanks for telling him that before I did."
"Hey, let up, his face is turning blue," Rose said worriedly.
"Yes, it makes a nice complement to that disgusting concoction he has there--and to his now-green friend in the corner." Bailey tossed her head towards Joshua, who really was green and had started shivering uncontrolably.
"You're killing him, and I won't--"
*SLAP!*
Adrian dropped to the floor and slumped over as Bailey's hand lashed out to hit Rose full across the face.  The blow sent her to the floor as well, though more out of shock than the power of the blow.  "You won't what?  You won't let me hurt him?  Brave words from someone with absolutely no hand-to-hand combat training.  Or common sense.  Be glad you're not in the force yet our you'd be dead for insolence like that.  You're just a stupid little girl who doesn't know who she's messing with, and who'd better shape up, fast.  Now, shut up and sit down.  I don't want to hear your voice again."  Bailey stalked to the back of the room, grabbed the now-retching Joshua, and unceremoniously threw him out the back door.  As an afterthought, she tossed a small hall pass card after him.  "So I don't forget and send him to Bartok later."  She stalked back toward the front of the room, arms crossed.
Lloyd muttered something inappropriate about Bailey being jealous of Rose's anatomy.  Without breaking stride, Bailey spun and roundhouse-kicked Lloyd in the face, sending him to the floor with the others.  "Anyone else have an opinion?" she said, surveying the room.  No one made a sound.  "Good.  Because I believe the good professor said, 'There will be no need to talk."  Bailey crossed her arms tighter and leaned back against the wall behind Reclumen, watching the students intensely, her gaze boring into Rose in particular.

OOC: It kinda scares me that I know how to write this kind of behavior so convincingly.

[The Truth]

OOC: No response to Kora?

IC: Rose stood. "That's it, you're a dead *****."

[Flipz]

OOC: Oops.  Forgot!   I can remedy that.

-==IC: Bailey==-
Bailey unclips her stun baton and other weaponry from her bandolier, tossing it on Reclumen's desk.  She also removes her comlink, keying in a special passcode.  The classroom doors close and seal.  She then sets the comling to broadcast static across all unblocked channels.  Then, staring directly at Rose, she unclips her Imperial insignia from her jacket, setting it gingerly on the desk.  At this, most of the students dive for cover.  Seeing Kora's confused look, he grabs the girl by the hand and leads her to his office.  "Come along, now, I want to teach you how to create a draught that can replenish blood...don't worry, you won't miss anything you shouldn't see on your first day of school anyway..."
Bailey stomps straight up to an unflinching Rose and leans right into her face.  "Bring it, *****."

[The Truth]

Rose punched as hard as she could at Bailey's face while at the same time kicking at her left side.
~~~
Kora followed Reclumen.

[Flipz]

-==IC: Bailey==-
Bailey caught Rose's fist and twisted, throwing Rose off balance and causing the kick to miss.  Bailey grabs the outstretched leg and elbow-chops it, throwing her full weight into the maneuver.  Bailey then lifts rose to her feet by her hair and kicks her into the office door.

-==IC: Reclumen==-
*BOOM* Rose hits the door, hard.  Reclumen tries to reassure Kora.
"Don't worry, my dear, everything is just fine.  Just...just fine."  In spite of this, Reclumen keeps throwing nervous glances toward the wall separating the office and the classroom...and the loud noises coming from the other side.

[The Truth]

(Kora): "Uh-huh..."

~~

Rose stood...and was surprised to see a laser pistol in her hand. An instant later, it vanished as if it was never there. Rose then jumped to her feet and (successfully) kicked Bailey extremely hard in the side of the head.

OOC: This will cause a very awkward conversation when they both return to reality.

[Flipz]

-==IC: Bailey==-
Bailey rolled with the second kick, dropping to the floor and interlocking her legs with Rose's.  A deft twist of the hips, and Rose was on the floor, too.  Bailey released her grip with her legs and leapt atop Rose, punching her in the face and kneeing her in the stomach.  She pinned Rose's right arm with her free knee, and grabbed her other arm at the wrist.  An ornate dagger with a glass chamber appeared in her free hand...and just as quickly disappeared.  Bailey started; she had just seen that dagger a second ago...there it was, in a glass case near the (shuttered) window.  Bailey considered leaping for it, until she caught the look on Lloyd's face.  And, now that she looked, the face of pretty much every guy in the room.  She grabbed one of the heavier-looking textbooks from the lowest shelf and clocked Lloyd with it, but this gave Rose the opportunity to break loose, though her arm was still pinned.

[Magical Girl Mimi]

-==IC: Lloyd==-

Lloyd panted, and looked up at Bailey, as he had the distinct feeling that something was odd.
"Leave her alone." Lloyd said, as he stood up again, though blood was definitely running down the side of his face from the cut where the book had hit him. Lloyd seemed to notice a weird flash of a beam near where his left hand was, which confused him for a moment, but he paid no attention to it for the moment.
"How long are you just going to be the principal's pet, huh?" Lloyd asked, figuring that he was likely to be attacked, but wanted to get his message across anyway.

-==IC: Carrie==-

"So... What happened anyway?" Carrie asked, even though she had no idea what was going on, she seemed as if whatever happened, she was saved just in time; as otherwise... She wasn't sure what would have happened, but she had the weird feeling that things weren't right elsewhere.